(a) the total land lying uncultivated or fallow, State-wise;
(b) whether use of agricultural land for non-agricultural purpose is increasing;
(c) if so, the actual agriculture land used for non-agriculture purpose during last three years;
(d) if so, whether this is likely to reduce the cultivated area of land;
(e) if so, the remedial steps taken to make the land worth cultivable; and
(f) the funds allocated for the purpose by the Union Government?
A N S W E R
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE
(SHRI SBPBK SATYANARAYANA RAO)
(a) A statement showing state-wise area under fallow land is annexed.
(b) to (d) Yes sir. It is true that some amount of good lands are also used for non-
agriculture purposes such as urbanization, industrialization and communication etc. During
1993-94 to 1995-96 an area of about 0.57 m.ha. has been used for the above purposes.
However, this trend did not adversely affect the net sown area of the country, which remained
at about 142.0 m.ha. during the corresponding period.
(e) & (f) The Department of Agriculture is implementing various central/centrally
sponsored schemes to improve productivity of degraded lands. These schemes are:
1. National Land Use Board (NLCB) and assistance to State Land Use Boards (SLUB)
2. National Watershed Development Programme in Rainfed areas (NWDPRA)
3. Soil Conservation in the catchments of River Valley Projects and Flood Prone Rivers (RVP/FPR)
4. Reclamation of Alkali Soils (RAS)
5. Watershed Development Project in Shifting Cultivation Areas (WDPSCA)
6. Reclamation and Development of Alkali Soils with EEC assistance.
During 2000-2001, a sum of about Rs.400.0 crores has been proposed for the effective
implementation of these schemes in different States of the country.
Statement showing Statewise area under fallow land during 1996-97
(Area in thousand ha.)
S.No. States/UTs Area
1. Andhra Pradesh 3990
2. Arunachal Pradesh 64
3. Assam 183
4. Bihar 2857
5. Gujarat 783 6. Haryana 137
7 Himachal Pradesh 78
8. Jammu & Kashmir 105
9. Karnataka 1535 10. Kerala 85 11. Madhya Pradesh 1492 12. Maharashtra 2175 13. Manipur 14. Meghalaya 234 15. Mizoram 163 16. Nagaland 190 17. Orissa 788 18. Punjab 75 19. Rajasthan 3847 20. Sikkim 13 21. Tamil Nadu 2257 22. Tripura 5 23. Uttar Pradesh 1899 24. West Bengal 241 25. Goa (m) 26. A & N Islands 4 27. Chandigarh 1 28. Dadra & Nagar Haveli 1 29. Delhi 8 30. Daman & Diu (m) 31. Lakshadweep 32. Pondicherry 5 33. D.V.C. 34. Head Quarter
TOTAL 23215
(m) - not available separately/(Statewise area)